Get those jackets ready, here comes our first real taste of fall

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A cold front will move through the area Tuesday evening, causing major temperature swings for the rest of the week. Morning lows and daytime highs will drop by 15 to 20 degrees over the next few days. There will be warm weather early in the morning to wrap up the work/school week. Lows on Wednesday will fall into the lower 50s, with mid and upper 40s on Thursday and Friday. The afternoons will be picture-perfect, with plenty of sun and high temperatures only in the 70s.

The downside on the front line will be an increased risk of wildfire spread. Some communities have banned open burning entirely in southwest and north Louisiana. Our entire area is under a Red Flag Warning regarding the risk of fire spread.

It is recommended that people planning an open burn should wait a few days. The reasons for the fire spread risk are the incredibly dry air, the series of dry weather days and the forecast windy conditions following the front. Winds will be 15-20 mph Wednesday, with gusts of 25-35 mph possible. In the following days the wind gradually dies down.

We see a warming trend beginning Friday afternoon. Your weekend plans and activities will continue to revolve around the wonderful weather as the warming trend will be gradual. Ultimately, highs will reach the mid to upper 80s by the end of next week, and lows will also return to the 60s.

The tropics remain calm in the Gulf of Mexico. We track two features in the Atlantic basin. One in the Caribbean will head to Central America in the coming days. Another in the Central Atlantic appears to be heading toward Puerto Rico and Hispaniola this weekend. Neither currently has much chance of tropical development.

Click here report a typo. Please provide the heading.

Click here to subscribe to our daily WAFB 9 News digest and breaking news alerts delivered directly to your email inbox.

Copyright 2024 WAFB. All rights reserved.